christmas party

Every year at the Christmas party I go to we get to see this exact performance:


I am in fact in this video. Where's Waldo?

Well next year I'm going to try to convince my sister to do this number at the party. I think we'd knock 'um dead.

the beyond department

I have a new-ish retail job and it's become an interesting part of my life. I've turned each shift into a game. We, as cashiers, are required to ask many annoying questions to each customer. Here's my schpiel: "Hi there! Did you find everything ok today? Can I tempt you into purchasing a Poach Pod or a cookie dough scoop today? You don't know what a Poach Pod is? Well let me demonstrate. You set the pods in your shallow pan of water on the stove and crack your eggs in there and poach them like you would regularly and when you're done you just throw them in the top rack of the dishwasher. And these cookie dough scoops are cool too! They have a nice sharp edge that helps you get through the raisins and the oatmeal and then you just push the back and they pop right out onto your tray! Do you need any gift cards or gift receipts today? And is any of this from our bridal registry? Ok have a great day!"
Wow I'm exhausted. But recently I decided to make it into a joke. I try to sound as much like an infomercial as possible and the customers love it. I'm actually starting not to hate it so much. It's the nice customers that make it worth while. For example: today one lady asked me which laptop tray I liked better and I convinced her to buy the more expensive one (not on purpose) and she said "My you are a good sales-woman!" Then later I helped her figure out that she would save more by using a 20% off coupon than by using a $5 off coupon and she said "Wow, not only are you a good sales woman, but you're funny and smart too!"
It's the nice ones that make it not so dreadful.

winter

I have to stay up here over break for work. At first I thought it was going to be nice to be alone, but now I'm realizing that I'm going to be bored out of my mind. It's hard to cook for only one person. Today I made enough soup for a whole army. I also volunteered for an extra shift at work, which is sick. On the one hand it's nice because I get to come home to the quiet and I can read or watch a movie, basically whatever I want. I also don't have to talk to anyone, which at first sounds depressing but after 5 strait hours of using my retail-voice it's nice to not talk. Sometimes I want to do this -->

But there are those other times where I feel like this -->


I think I'm funny.

Disney dreams

I want to work for Disney. I always have and I probably always will. I will be graduating in June and after that real life starts, but I don't know what to do. The thing I keep worrying about is that I will have to start paying back all of my loans. I want to go to California and work for Disneyland as like a creative manager so something. I know Disney inside and out and I think I would do well, but how do I get there? I know this kind of job must exist because the park exists and someone had to help Walt think it all up! How do I get a job like this? This is what I want to do when I grow up, but I'm not sure it will ever work out and that makes me sad. I'm sure I'll find a good job somewhere in Olympia and I'll do just fine but I still like to dream.

song of the day

"Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble

song of the day

"Love" by Sugarland

I'm sorry about the ridiculous add in this video but I love this particular performance.

senior year

The good thing about being a senior in college is that you get to take classes that are interesting. This quarter I'm taking a class from my favorite professor, The Ecology of Human Variation. He's hysterical and luckily for both of us there is a girl in the class who's intelligence I'm questioning. Here is a blip from class today. Enjoy. We were making a chart about how humans use their energy and we had "reproduction" under an activity and then our teacher put it as it's own category to represent sexual maturation. This is the conversation that followed.(I copied that picture exactly from the white board.)

Student: "but you already have that under 'activities'."

Teacher: "Think about it now. The activity part of reproduction is...going to the sock-hop..."

*laughter*

Girl: "What about socialization? I mean, humans have to socialize."

Teacher: "Well, that would be this..." (He puts a star next to 'reproduction' in the activities section)

*lull in conversation*

Girl: "What about grooming?!"

Teacher: (Puts a dot next to 'reproduction').

*laughter*

She was lost.

bacteria

I made it all the way home without any huge complications. My flights were both delayed, which annoyed me but didn't hurt at all. The last few days of my journey I had been feeling kind of ill, which made me sit out of a couple activities. When I got home I still had a rock in my stomach. After Mom gave me a panic attack by telling me that she thought it could be a parasite/worms she had me call Dr.Ellen (aka Mom's bff). She told me that I had giardia, thank God. She told me I'd have to be on anti-biotics 4x/day for 7 days. After that exciting news mom consulted someone else and the CDC and decided I could manage with 1 pill 3x/day, much better. Now that I've been off the antibiotics for a while I'm still feeling some of the uh, effects but the rock in my stomach is gone. Now, however, I have to take probiotics to reset my system, if you will. I can't wait until I'm only on one pill/day again!

long journey home

I begin my 24 hour journey home in 2 hours. I´m sad to be leaving but I´m happy to go home. I miss my family and my dog and I´m starting to hate potatoes. I miss regular trips to the bathroom and not having to sanitize my water and to not keep my mouth shut in the shower. Me encanta Peru. I´m ready to come home. Bien viaje.

the sacred valley

I´m going to Machu Picchu tomorrow and I can´t decide if I want to walk all the way up (like 1700 Incan stairs) or take the bus. We shall see. Today at 3:30pm we take the train to Aguas Calientes for the night and come back to Ollantaytambo tomorrow around 3ish. I need to do some serious shopping still. I have a couple things but need more! I only have one more week here and then I´ll be seeing all of you again! Hasta pronto!

welcome to the jungle

Hello friends,

The last few days have been busy traveling days. I spent some of last week in the Amazon and it was amazing! I was literally IN the Amazon river. We decided to go swimming in a little town called Infierno, which means ¨hell.¨I thought it was funny. We stayed at an ecoLodge there and our rooms literally looked out into the jungle. If you want to look at pictures it is called Posada Amazonas near Puerto Maldonado. We saw monkeys, macaws, bugs, cabibarra, birds, bugs, and bugs. It was fantastic. Now I´m in a place called Ollantaytambo, which is right outside of Machu Picchu. I will be going there on Sunday. I saw some ruins today and it was freaking amazing! We were in Cusco last night and it was a really cool town. I can´t wait to go back there and do some shopping! Just so you all know, Pisco, the local alcohol is GREAT. A pisco sour tastes like a margharita only better. No joke. A met an older woman today from the UK who lives here in Ollantaytambo (yes, that takes me a while to type) and she is doing nonprofit work for the local women, teaching them about contraception and giving them birth control. They give them Depo because pills are too hard. She also helps with getting food for the local children who have to walk 3 hours downhill to get to school and most never eat, then they have to walk 3 hours back uphill. She´s an amazing lady.

Lastly, I´d like to say: GO KASEY KAHNE! He´s 6th in the points race right now! By the way, my group leader has nicknames for everyone and mine is ¨NASCAR,¨I like it.

That´s all for now amigos! Adios!

one week down, two to go

I´m now in Huaraz and will be leaving tonight. The reason I haven´t posted in a few days is because I was in a little mountain town called Vicos. There was little running water and so no internet. Most people spoke only Quechua or Spanish so my speaking skills are improving everyday, which is really exciting! I´ve been eating potatoes for every meal and luckily I haven´t gotten sick...yet. Most people in my group have gotten a flu thing which I´m trying really hard to avoid. Tonight we head to the jungle. I´m excited because the longer I sit here in Huaraz the more homesick I get. I miss you all and hope that all is well. If you want to look it up the name of the town I´m going to is Puerto Maldonado. Oh, let me share a magical moment with you. While the rest of my group hiked to the top of the largest mountain I´ve every seen, I stayed behind and gazed at the Andes while my babysitter, Manuel, played his flute for me. Now, please go listen to ¨Come Fly With Me¨by Frank Sinatra for me so you know what I´m talking about.

xoxo

in llama land

Hello TFPeople and friends!

I am safe and sound in Lima, Peru. Our flight out of Atlanta was WAY delayed because we had to debark and completely switch planes. The air conditioning was broken. I tried to take a shower this morning which was difficut because I had to keep my mouth shut so water wouldn´t get in. No diarrhea for me...yet. We toured Lima today and it was so fascinating. We went down into some tombs and I totally felt like Indiana Jone´s assistant! I don´t have much time right now because we are going to go explore the area of Barranco where I stayed last night. I finally put my Spanish skills to work in the cabs we took and it was amazing. We are headed to a village tonight so don´t expect any posts soon. Sorry this one was so short!

2 days

I will be leaving for Peru in about 2 days and I'm starting to get really nervous. I just got my updated itinerary and before, when I read it I would get extremely excited, but now I get anxiety. Hopefully it's more excitement than dread. Either way I have a new bottle of chill pills so I'll be covered. I'll be packing up the rest of my stuff tomorrow and then I'll be ready for my early morning flight on Saturday.

a coming adventure

I'm leaving for Peru in 16 days. I've decided that instead of trying to write a million individual emails I'm going to log my adventures here. I'll have Internet access all but 4 out of the 22 days I'm down there, so I should be able to be consistent. I hope I can write you something worth reading.

Travel Channel Trip-A-Month Sweepstakes

total eclipse

Josh Groban was on Ellen today. HYSTERICAL! He's funny, she's funny. I need to meet him. Watch and see why. Love, love, love.

23?

Disney's new campaign is Are You 23? I discovered it on the Disney website by accident. I wanted to see what their new promotions are because I will be in Disneyland soon. I was taken to a page where huge letters reading "Are you 23?" flashed onto the screen. Then Tinker Bell flew onto the screen and numbers appeared counting down to March 10. I thought I was missing something so I Googled the phrase and it turns out that nobody knows what this is about.

I really don't think it has to do with age because there is a place for you to enter your email address to "Be the first to know." This makes me think that you either have to qualify somehow or be the 23rd person to...something.

There were some interesting theories about DVD releases and that the Disney brothers started making cartoons in 1923. There are also some really far fetched guesses like 2 + 3 = 5 so that means a fifth park will be opening. The Disney Company is doing a really good job keeping this one a secret and therefore creating intrigue. I know I'm interested. I'm hoping it has something to do with the parks because it will hopefully benefit my up coming trip!

Not to mention 23 is my most favorite number...

I'm thinking about doing some research to see if I can come up with any viable guesses.

winter quotes

Sorry I haven't been posting. This should make you feel better.

"It's not quite sex, drugs, and rock n' roll but it's close" ~Archaeology Professor

"I think we can all agree that we don't want our sex organs on the ground." ~Bio Prof

"There's an egg and a sperm...and a magic moment occurs." ~Bio Prof

"I'm just teaching you how to be obnoxious and smart without really knowing anything." ~Bio Prof

"Students really seem to love multiple multiple choice exams, so that's what we'll be doing." ~Bio Prof (That's total bull by the way. Students HATE multiple multiple choice)

"I know the difference between a yam and a sweet potato. That was my pick up line in college." ~Bio Prof

"Ok I promised you some sex. We're getting there." ~Bio Prof

My biology professor has a stutter and I never find it funny until he gets stuck on the word "because" because it makes me think of the Wizard of Oz.

"Now I know I have a stutter and it can be problematic so if you don't understand what I'm saying just be like 'Hey Jeff, too many syllables not enough words.'"

Spring Break

So originally, I wanted to go to Alaska for spring break to visit a friend. I was getting ready to buy the tickets when I saw the weather report. Snow. I hate the cold. I hate the snow. I hate the dark. Then just for fun I decided to see what the airfare prices are for LA and that lead to a few more hours of research and I discovered that I can spend 4 nights in LA, 3 days in Disneyland for the same price as going to Alaska. Not to mention the fact that there is sunshine and warmth in California, two things I need desperately. So now I'm in the process of planning my Disney vacation. I'm pretty darn excited.

song of the day

"Rock N' Roll" by Eric Hutchinson

This song is dedicated to summer. Come back soon.